GREENVILLE — New York attorney Erol Gulay planned his family’s annual summer trip to Hilton Head Island eight months in advance. They were all set to meet up in the popular Lowcountry resort town with old friends flying in from San Francisco with their two kids. Tropical Storm Debby forced them to move to Plan B — which it turns out would be Greenville.
“I knew about the — obviously, I’m from the East Coast, too — I know about the hurricane threat in this area in that time of year, but it’s always a low-probability event in any one given location on any given week," he said while dining in downtown Greenville Aug. 5. "So I was, like, it’s worth the risk.
” As Gulay flew in to Savannah Hilton Head International Airport last Saturday, he tracked the storm and knew it was time to make alternative plans. The forecasts have played out much as expected. The storm has stalled and has drenched the Lowcountry with torrential rain that has prompted governments to close streets and prepare for the impacts of what the National Weather Service says could be as much as 25 inches of rain falling in certain areas by the time the storm moves on at the end of the week.
In preparation, Gulay got online and researched places to go. Asheville? Gatlinburg? Greenville seemed to ring a bell. Twenty-four hours later, the families started packing up to leave.
The New Yorker said he was curious about the Upstate anyway. A web search confirmed why Greenville seemed familiar: It was on The New York Times list of top places to visit. Story continues below “I was like, ‘Huh?’” Gulay said.
“I never really encountered that city before. If it’s on that list, it must be worthwhile to go.” It was a driving rain the morning before when they motored out of Hilton Head.
Gulay, his wife, their 6-year-old twin sons and their 3-month-old baby were in one car. His law school buddy from San Francisco, his buddy's wife and their 8-year-old and 3-year-old children were in another. “It made sense to just drive inland and try to get out of the path of the storm,” said Gulay.
Main Street, Greenville, S.C. File/staff They arrived to Greenville by 4 p.
m. By then, about six inches of rain had fallen in Hilton Head. “We decided to check out Main Street last night as our first excursion, and it was beautiful,” Gulay said.
“Tree-lined streets, lots of restaurants, a lot of attractions. As we were planning the trip, figuring out what we should do, I was struck with how many options there are.” Gulay’s family and their friends found an AirBnB within 5 minutes of downtown.
They ate at Sticky Fingers on Main Street and plan to check out the area’s parks and Children’s Museum this week. The kids, he said, are doing just fine. “They are resilient and willing to pivot,” he said.
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